Hi Neighbor!

We moved to Mesa 6 1/2 years ago after living in California for 16 years. We lived in the same house on a dead end street for 10 of those 16 years. Our house was situated in the center of the street amid 20 or so houses. I could stand at my front door and look up and down the street at each house and know who lived there and what their names were:  Ken helped me cut wood and shared his tools with me, Sue shared iris bulbs that helped fill out our newly landscaped front yard, Doris always brought over baked goods and shared gardening tips, Clif helped put in our sprinklers and fix things for us, Michele watched my kids at a moment's notice, Reed and Chris let us swim in their pool and hunt for easter eggs in their big yard, Mark and Valerie taped our favorite shows every week because we didn't have cable, Lois taught me how to quilt, Darrel and Janice always welcomed our boys in to play with their son Austin. 

Three of our five children were born while living in that house. I knew my neighbors and they knew me. Our children played together. We took in each other's mail and shared meals together. We slept out in our front yards the night after the big earthquake in '94. We gathered for an impromptu get together every 4th of July in the middle of our street...OUR street...to celebrate together with fireworks and icecream sandwiches. We babysat each other's kids, even in the middle of the night when it would have been more comfortable to stay in one's own bed. We became more than neighbors. We served one another, shared in the happy moments of new babies, weddings ,birthday parties, new cars (when we drove down the street in our new SUV, the kids came running to our house so they could climb all through our new car), we cried when close neighbors moved away and welcomed new neighbors in, we bore one another's burdens in setbacks, in sickness and in grieving the loss of one neighbor's son in a tragic accident. We had such great neighbors that I never thought we could move away, but one day we did. On Moving Day, with car and truck filled to the brim with kids and our stuff, it was our turn to say good-bye. Just as we were pulling away, Ryan, who lived next door raised his hand in a final farewell and said, "Bye Neighbor". It was a loaded sentence because after 10 years on that street, I knew what "neighbor" meant. I will never forget Austin running along side the car as we drove up the street, racing us to the corner. 

When we moved into our new house here in Mesa, it didn't take long before we needed our new neighbors...I borrowed a ladder from the Hyatts who live across the street. The next Sunday at church, I heard a familiar greeting from a new voice as Jacob Hyatt welcomed me with "Hi Neighbor!" The past and the present merge as we started building relationships all over again.

Not too long ago, Jacob's mom, Collette, brought over a freshly baked loaf of bread just to say she'd been thinking of us and that she hoped Brian was feeling better. Thank you, Neighbor. Once again we find ourselves in a good place.